Sadiq Khan’s Ulez policy has been branded an “utter disaster” by former Conservative Party leader, Iain Duncan Smith.
It comes as the Mayor of London prepares to roll out the scheme to all London boroughs in a bid for cleaner air across the capital.
In an interview on GB News, Iain Duncan Smith accused Khan of using the scheme to raise money as opposed to reducing emissions.
Speaking to Camilla Tominey, he said: "My area is one of the outer boroughs that is going to be hit by Ulez.
Iain Duncan Smith has criticised the Ulez scheme
PA / GB News
“I think it’s an utter disaster. There’s no need for it, we have much cleaner air.
“To bring it up there is this terrible idea from the mayor to raise money. That’s all.”
New research suggests 700,000 car drivers are likely to be affected by the change, with a daily £12.50 charge in store.
The RAC said the expansion will have a “massive financial impact on motorists and business”.
More of the green ULEZ zone signs will start appearing across London Yui MokTransport for London (TfL) claimed nine out of 10 cars seen driving in outer London on an average day meet the Ulez standards, and will therefore not be liable for the charge.
It also said that many drivers are switching from older, more polluting vehicles ahead of the expansion.
The zone is currently limited to the area within London’s North and South Circular roads, but Mayor Sadiq Khan has decided to expand it to cover the whole of the capital, claiming this will boost air quality.
Most diesel cars registered before September 2015 and petrol cars registered prior to January 2006 are liable for the charge.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency figures obtained by the RAC show that 691,559 licensed cars in the whole of London fall into one of those categories.
Iain Duncan Smith accused the London Mayor of going missing whenever there is a problem in London.
He told GB News: “Whenever there’s a problem he seems to slope his shoulders and disappear.
“Whenever there’s a way to make money, he’s out there. He’s very anti-car and he forgets that business need their cars and vans will be hit by this.
“Right now, I’ve got constituents who need to pay money to cross the North Circular to go to their main hospital.
“If you’re a person whose retired or about to retire, you’ll have bought your last car probably.
“Now what’s going to happen is progressively, you’ll have to pay more money because the choice you made.”
Khan said last week that the aim of the Ulez is to “get the most polluting vehicles off our roads in order to protect both the health of Londoners and our environment”.
He went on: “People, businesses and charities understand the impact of air pollution on health and are preparing for the change.
“It’s now just one in 10 cars seen driving in outer London that aren’t Ulez compliant – a fantastic result.
“We expect the number of compliant vehicles to go up even more as people prepare for the expansion, but we know there is more to do to ensure every Londoner can breathe cleaner air.
“For drivers of the very few non-compliant vehicles, I have launched the biggest scrappage scheme ever.”